The Adventures of Fric and Frac: Adventure 51: Manhattan, KS/Post H

Irresistible!

Starting around Halloween, and most certainly during Thanksgiving, we've seen Christmas decorations begin to show up. Lately, we've driven through small Kansas towns where city workers were busy putting Christmas displays on the light poles. It's a sign of our twenty-four-seven times I guess, but wouldn't it be nice if things slowed down a little. At the Franz's today, we slowed way down, although we contributed to the get ready for Christmas before Thanksgiving frenzy. Today, we made Peppernuts (Pfeffernusse), or more accurately, we baked Peppernuts because Rod made the dough a few days ago. Another German tradition passed down to the sisters, Pepper Nuts are small hard cookies that look much like dry dog food. The resemblance ends there. Made of flour, white sugar, brown sugar, sweet cream, white syrup, butter, baking soda, cinnamon, eggs, and flavored with star anise, these tiny rich cookies disappear by the handful. A family favorite as well as a family tradition, I often carried a pocketful of Peppernuts to school. In the course of the day, I'd reach in to my pocket and pop a yummy little morsel into my mouth. Whenever I offered anyone a taste, they quickly wanted more, and late in my career I began giving little bagfuls as gifts, which is quite something because making Peppernuts is labor intensive. The dough must be mixed then refrigerated and while cold, portions are cut, rolled into long skinny "snakes", which are then snipped into half inch pieces. The pieces are then meticulously placed on buttered cookie trays so they don't touch each other. They are then baked at 350 or 375 until they are golden brown. When they cool, they become firm, and part of the fun is the crunch they provide when you pop a few into your mouth. Invariably, during the process of cutting, rolling, and placing, a tray is momentarily "forgotten" in the oven. The bottoms of the cookies get a little dark, and as if to make up for the mistake, these overdone Peppernuts are instantly gobbled up by the crew. (Maybe that's why it almost always happens.) Making Peppernuts always involves laughter and many hands. They are the perfect representation of the adage, "Many hands make light work". This year, the little hands are missing. For us, the reason is obvious (our little people are back home), and for the Franz's, their little people will get a free treat when "Mimi" pulls the bagful from her suitcase while the family enjoys Christmas vacation in Mexico. Even though Peppernuts are really a Christmas cookie, our families usually make them during Thanksgiving because that's when the labor force was usually present. The labor force this year consisted of Rod, Karen, Judy, and me. One further note about Peppernuts. There are hundreds of variations on the recipe. It's just our family who makes the dog food "farfennugens", a yummy malapropism to be sure. Today, Fric and Frac didn't move very far physically, but the trip back through time with family surely helped to make life good, especially today.